Relative Keys Understanding the relative major and relative Minor 

This music theory lesson on relative keys explains the concept of relative major and relative minor keys.
For more music theory resources on this topic and to download the relative keys chart go to www.musictheoryacademy.com/un...
The lesson explores what a "key" is in music, looking at the starting note (tonic), whether it is major or minor (tonality), the scale and the number of sharps or flats (key signature). It explains that relative major and minor scales share the same number of sharps and flats as each other and so are related musically.
The lesson explains how to work out the relative minor from the major key by counting down 3 semitones and also how to work out the relative major from the minor key by counting up 3 semitones. A number of examples are given, including G major/E minor, E major/C sharp minor and F sharp minor/A major.
A relative keys chart is given which shows all of the relative keys and their respective key signatures.
Finally, the lesson shows how an understanding of relative major and minor keys can help when composing music by introducing contrast into a piece of music. An example piece of music is shown which demonstrates a direct/abrupt modulation from A major to its relative minor - F sharp minor.